Art Rooney II said a few months back that the Steelers need to get back to running the ball more.

So, with Dennis Dixon getting only his second start Sunday when the Steelers open the season against visiting Atlanta, what better time is there to appease the boss and run the ball more?

Well, you might not want to erase the team record of 60 attempts out of the media guide quite yet.

"To go out and say we have to run the ball to win the game, put a number of runs on it, I don't believe that," offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said. "You have to score points."

If that means abandoning the run and putting the game into Dixon's hands, Arians said he is comfortable doing such a thing.

"We're going to do whatever it takes to win the game," Arians said.

Last year, the Steelers threw the ball much more than they handed off. They ran only 42.2 percent of the time in 2009, although their 112.1 yards a game were nearly seven more than their Super Bowl season of 2008.

Despite throwing the ball a record number of times, during Dixon's one start against the Ravens last year, Arians called more run plays than he did in any game all season with 38.

"He is just going to call what he has to call as the game goes on," receiver Hines Ward said. "We are going to try to run the ball. But at the same time, we aren't going to run it 40 times and pass it twice."

Only five times did Arians call more running plays than passing plays last year, and the Steelers went 3-2 in those games.

"People can speculate on how the game should be played," Ward said. "Nobody is going to know until the game unfolds. If they load up and take the run away, then we aren't going to be dumb and keep running the ball if there is nothing there."

It is very possible that Atlanta will load up the line of scrimmage against the Steelers and running back Rashard Mendenhall.

That would put the pressure on Dixon, who showed throughout the majority of the preseason that his accuracy has greatly improved. Despite a hiccup against Denver in the third preseason game when he completed 9-of-16 passes, Dixon has been accurate, completing 14 of 16 passes in the other three games combined.

"Dennis is capable of doing everything," tight end Heath Miller said. "This is his third year in this offense, and he proved throughout the preseason that he is more than capable of running the show."

Arians said he will be able to open the playbook a lot more this time around with Dixon because he has an experienced backup quarterback at his disposal. Last year, Tyler Palko was signed earlier in the week to fill that role.

"I've got all the confidence in the world in (Dixon)," Arians said. "It's night and day from Baltimore last year to this game. He's more than ready to score enough points to win the game."

I dont think he is thumbing his nose to the boss. Tomlin and Ben have confirmed that Rooney was saying they need to run the ball "better" and more "effectively" and I agree. Arians has confirmed that as well. Thats exactly what the boss wants.

i wonder what rooney was thinking when he watched the superbowl champion saints score an opening drive td with 4 passes on about 5 plays from their multi million dollar qb.

and then with about 6 minutes to go at the end of the game, go into the 4 minute offense, do nothing but hand the ball off, get a 1st down or 2, and ice the game with 3kneel downs. now that was ultra conservative!

Arians is not thumbing his boss, if he is, I'm sure he would have enough finesse to do it in private.

The Saints schemed the Vikes to death. They set them up by passing on them the 1st half and Payton even told Andrea Kremer at half "We are going to do more of the same this half". Its the oakey doke. They had the Vikings playing tendancies and the Saints fooled them royaly.

Great gameplan by Payton using the pass to eventually set up the run. Make no mistake about it though, the Saints are a passing team. They would be fools to waste a talent like Brees. If we had Brees, Rooneyll wouldnt be making such proclamations.

Great gameplan by Payton using the pass to eventually set up the run. Make no mistake about it though, the Saints are a passing team. They would be fools to waste a talent like Brees. If we had Brees, Rooneyll wouldnt be making such proclamations.

But on the flipside of the coin, they would be fools to waste a former Heisman Trophy winning RB's talents as well (Reggie Bush, and yes, I said FORMER)....

You just can't resistt the chance to take a stab at Big Ben, can you? You were actually doing good in this thread and making some sense, until you HAD to drop that little quip in your post....the fragile house of playing cards you just built in this thread came crashing down in a pile....

But on the flipside of the coin, they would be fools to waste a former Heisman Trophy winning RB's talents as well (Reggie Bush, and yes, I said FORMER)....

You just can't resistt the chance to take a stab at Big Ben, can you? You were actually doing good in this thread and making some sense, until you HAD to drop that little quip in your post....the fragile house of playing cards you just built in this thread came crashing down in a pile....

Reggie Bush is not the impact player in the pros that he was in college. In fact he doesnt even start for the Saints. Why would they scheme to lean on a backup?

What did I say incorrect about Ben? Please tell me. If I said his Name is "Ben Roethlisberger" you would be offended by that.

I know what you are saying but I agree with Arians on this one. Rooney made ONE...ONE...ONE comment in response to a question and the media has been quoting that one comment now for a while (some idiots have even called it an ultimatum) as if he made an order to Tomlin/Arians...do this or I will fire you.

All he as been trying to say over MONTHS is that the Rooney's don't micromanage like Al Davis, Jerry Jones, and occasionally Dan Sneider. He (and Tomlin) still get to call the shots and do what it takes to win. He wants to make it clear that his orders from the Rooney's is to win...run more effectively...and WIN.

Arians is one of my favorite people to read interviews on. I feel like reading his interviews, I lean something new that I didn't know before. He speaks his mind.

Tomlin is a lot better now. I got plenty of information from him during training camp. He used to speak in circles. I know he doesn't want to reveal too much or throw players under the bus but really I used to finish interviews with him and I would ave NO new info that I couldn't have predicted. I enjoy him much better now.

I feel I would know more about how the Steelers are shaping up if we had daily Arians interviews but maybe the opponents would too...so maybe not so good. lol These interviews that mea has posted have excited me about the upcoming game.

I know what you are saying but I agree with Arians on this one. Rooney made ONE...ONE...ONE comment in response to a question and the media has been quoting that one comment now for a while (some idiots have even called it an ultimatum) as if he made an order to Tomlin/Arians...do this or I will fire you.

All he as been trying to say over MONTHS is that the Rooney's don't micromanage like Al Davis, Jerry Jones, and occasionally Dan Sneider. He (and Tomlin) still get to call the shots and do what it takes to win. He wants to make it clear that his orders from the Rooney's is to win...run more effectively...and WIN.

they don't have to, its the last year of his contract.... the fact that rooney , who i can't ever recall making comments like that , speaks volumes. this is a do or die year for arians.

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